Washington Post Review of Carnival

The Washington Post
Friday, March 3, 2000

BETTY: Carnival CD review
By Mike Joyce

Life is a carnival, they say, but if BETTY’s new album proves one thing, it’s that the best carnivals are bigger than life. With a Felliniesque flair for combining the surreal and the everyday, the women of BETTY have created their own theatrical freak ‘n funk show, and though it only runs for half an hour, it’s a tent town full of fun.

Of course, some of the fun has its dark side. On the spoken word track Pins and Needles, for example, a tale of surprise and heartbreak slowly unfolds until the moral of the story finally hits home: sometimes love can’t hold a candle to a brand new bike. And speaking of failed romance, another song, Heartache, should serve as a warning to anyone with a habit of misspeaking from ever asking their pharmacist to prescribe a remedy for a broken heart. As it turns out, Wishing Well, easily the album’s most poignant song, suggests that the best cure doesn’t cost a thing.

Even so, the biggest draws in BETTY’s carny town are Millennium Man and Jungle Jane, characters who are truly larger than life, and the funk-rock tracks that set them into engaging motion. So go ahead. Take the barker at his word, and step right up.

Washington Post review of BETTY's Carnival CD

to the BETTY Rules last New York night photos
to the BETTY Rules Chicago photos
to the BETTY Snow Biz session photos
to the Punctuations in Time page: flyers and posters

to the BETTY interview Part 1
to the BETTY interview Part 2

to production commentary on Carnival
 to production commentary on Hello BETTY!
 to production commentary on Jungle Jane